Phillip Island MotoGP: Marquez beats Lorenzo in FP2

With Phillip Island turning of near perfect weather for the second timed session, the pace was hot right from the start.

Within six minutes Valentino Rossi was down to a 1m30.557s, half a second off the morning’s best time, before Lorenzo went within half a tenth of the benchmark he set earlier in the day just a few minutes later with a 1m30.103s.

Lorenzo improved to a 1m30.098s later in the same run, before dropping the benchmark to a 1m30.082s on the last flying lap of his second run, 12 minutes from the end of the session.

But it wasn’t until inside the last five minutes that times started to really tumble. As riders opted for new rear tyres, the pace got quicker by the lap.

Cal Crutchlow was the first to make his move, going fastest with a 1m29.579s, the first time under the 1m30s mark for the weekend.

That time stood for around four minutes, before Lorenzo – now running a brand new option rear – blasted his way to a 1m29.433s.

But it was Marquez who had the last laugh, replying seconds later with a 1m29.383s, the time that would ultimately top the session.

Maverick Vinales was quick on the Suzuki, having sat inside the Top 6 even before the new tyre happy hour kicked off, then improving to a 1m29.518s 90 seconds before the session came to an end, good enough for P3.

Andrea Iannone was fourth on the Ducati, nearly a second quicker than team-mate Andrea Dovizioso who was just 14th fastest, while Crutchlow wound up fifth after being fastest with five minutes of the session remaining.

Dani Pedrosa was sixth fastest, Danilo Petrucci seventh, while Bradley Smith improved right at the flag fall to sneak in to the top eight.

Having traded fastest times with Lorenzo early in the session, Rossi ended up just ninth fastest, more than sixth-tenths off the pace. However, the points leader was one of the few riders not to opt for a new rear tyre for the third run.

Best of the local brigade was again Jack Miller. Even in dry conditions the Aussie ran as high as fifth during the session, ultimately finishing up a respectable 11th with a 1m30.127s.

His compatriots didn’t fare quite so well, Anthony West and Damian Cudlin propping up the back end of the times in 24th and 25th respectively.

Pos	Rider	Team	Time	Gap
1	Marc Marquez	Repsol Honda Team	1:29.383	1:29.383
2	Jorge Lorenzo	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	1:29.433	+0.050
3	Maverick Viñales	Team Suzuki ECSTAR	1:29.518	+0.135
4	Andrea Iannone	Ducati Team	1:29.544	+0.161
5	Cal Crutchlow	CWM LCR Honda	1:29.579	+0.196
6	Dani Pedrosa	Repsol Honda Team	1:29.876	+0.493
7	Danilo Petrucci	Pramac Racing	1:30.021	+0.638
8	Bradley Smith	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1:30.032	+0.649
9	Valentino Rossi	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	1:30.041	+0.658
10	Aleix Espargaro	Team Suzuki ECSTAR	1:30.113	+0.730
11	Jack Miller	CWM LCR Honda	1:30.127	+0.744
12	Nicky Hayden	Aspar MotoGP Team	1:30.184	+0.801
13	Hector Barbera	Avintia Racing	1:30.278	+0.895
14	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati Team	1:30.451	+1.068
15	Pol Espargaro	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1:30.552	+1.169
16	Yonny Hernandez	Pramac Racing	1:30.660	+1.277
17	Scott Redding	Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS	1:30.773	+1.390
18	Eugene Laverty	Aspar MotoGP Team	1:30.910	+1.527
19	Alvaro Bautista	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	1:31.260	+1.877
20	Mike di Meglio	Avintia Racing	1:31.339	+1.956
21	Stefan Bradl	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	1:31.577	+2.194
22	Toni Elias	Athinà Forward Racing	1:32.122	+2.739
23	Loris Baz	Athinà Forward Racing	1:32.309	+2.926
24	Anthony West	AB Motoracing	1:32.592	+3.209
25	Damian Cudlin	E-motion Ioda Racing Project	1:34.479	+5.096